Running A Home-Based Business

The latest from SB Unlimited!Running your own home-based business is tough – especially when it’s just you doing everything! I live alone and, while I have a few friends who help me out some, I am basically on my own trying to post ads, submit articles, write blogs, and keep up with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

I’ve been plodding along for a few years doing this alone but now it’s panic time! In two days I’ll go to the hospital for an operation which will keep me away from home for about 10 days to 2 weeks. After the first 3-4 days, I should be able to use my laptop for enough time each day to check my email and post a few ads, but keeping up with everything will be impossible.

My business includes multiple websites and enterprises, most of which are in the stage of quot;almost – not yet.quot; You know, almost making money but not quite yet, so it’s imperative that I stay on top of the guys I have doing SEO for me from India and Bangladesh, that I monitor the website sales sites where I have some of my sites listed, and that I keep tabs on my very low bank account balances at the same time.

I’m so thankful that I was able to get an iPhone a few weeks ago so I can do a lot of monitoring just laying in the bed with it in my hand – for as long as I can stay awake. Pain medication tends to blur the senses a little so I don’t think I’ll be right with it for a bit.

Anyway, the point of this rambling little pity party is that every internet entrepreneur should make it a point to have a back-up plan – complete with people who know something about what you’re doing or at least how to find and use your book filled with login information, your files of articles and images, and some idea of what to do with it all.

Outsourcing is a great idea is you find someone who is not only competent but trustworthy (I like oDesk the best!) but it’s really hard to do this business from long distance when you need to be able to show someone your sites, teach them how to work certain web builders they not be familiar with, and actually see what they’re doing before it hits cyberspace and possibly destroys your reputation completely.

So, a word to the wise – don’t listen to the words my Father taught me all my life – quot;If you want something done right, do it yourself.quot; They will put you in the same position I am now in – being the only one who knows how to do my business, the only who wants to do my business, and unfortunately, the only one who will do it – it will just have to wait until I can get back in the driver’s seat myself.

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Susan Bowman is the owner of SB Unlimited, a home-based business in Delmar, NY (Albany Capital District). She is a retired Episcopal priest, a published author (she wrote her memoir – quot;Lady Father quot; – this year and you can find it on her blog site – http://ladyfather.com), an avowed internet entrepreneur who believes that she really CAN make money from her living room recliner, and a very proud grandmother. She is also a terrific Travel Specialist who can get the cheapest fares and find the best places to go – cruises, tours, vacations, even camping trips. Visit http://bookemsusan.com, email her at travel@bookemsusan.com, or call her at 518-772-4650.

About ladyfr

An ordained Episcopal priest for 20+ years, I am now semi-retired with a rather small pension so I do services at a tiny little church in the country, work full-time for AAA as an Auto Travel Counselor where I get to take people's money (open and renew accounts) and tell them where to go (help them route trips), and do free-lance writing and other virtual jobs on the internet.
I have one son, Scott, who is married to Stacey, and 2 adorable grandchildren, Jared and Emily. They are all the center of my life and I spend as much time with them as all of the above activities will allow.
I am currently writing an eBook about my experiences in the ordination process of the church and the places I served. It has been a mixed bag of great fulfillment and joy as well as frustration and pain. It's due out in several months.
Closing in on the magic Social Security retirement age, I will soon be able to quit working for AAA or anybody where I have to punch a clock and work completely from home, doing what I love - writing and helping others with their work or their issues.

Welcome to my World!!

I'm Susan Bowman, ordained Episcopal priest better known in some circles as "the Lady Father." In fact, my memoir, which was published in May 2011, is called "Lady Father" because it chronicles my struggles with the ordination process in a diocese that had historically been solidly against women in the ordained ministry of the church. Our Bishop in 1980 was the Rt. Rev. C. Charles Vaché, a longtime opponent of women in any kind of leadership position in the church. He was beginning to soften his stance as he had not only allowed women to serve the chalice at the Eucharist, but had licensed a woman to be the interim Priest at a large parish in Virginia Beach.
Enter Susan Bowman, enthusiastic and much-loved lay youth minister. That would be me - feeling a strong call from God to do more than keep business signs from encroaching on the City of Petersburg's rights-of-way (I had been serving as the Zoning Administrator since 1977). Amazingly, the Bishop allowed me to enter seminary as a lay ministry student and, when it became clear to me that I was called to the Priesthood, he graciously and firmly granted me entrance into the ordination track of the Diocese's ministry training. This action caused quite a stir from the exuberance of most of the teenagers in the Diocese and my circle of friends and colleagues to the utter despair and horror, along with anger and hostility of the more traditional members.
You can read more about the book (click here) or you can read the entire story in "Lady Father," for sale on this site as well as on Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com.
I am "retired" after 27 years of ordained ministry but it's true that old clergy never really retire - they just re-tire. These days my favorite Sunday place to hang out is a little United Methodist Congregation up in the country - it's called Jermain UMC and it is home to the sweetest bunch of people in the universe. Join us for worship at 9:00 am any Sunday.